Black Supermoon

This week, so-called Black Supermoon will grace the night sky, making warm July's nights a prime time for stargazing!

The term ‘black moon’, like a ‘blue moon’, has nothing to do with this color. Such name comes from folklore and no connection to astronomical term. In fact, it refers either to the second of two New Moons in the same calendar month or to the third in a season with four New Moons.

On Wednesday, July 31 or Thursday, August 1 at 03:13 UTC (depending on your time zone) the Black Moon marks the second New Moon in July or the first of two August New Moons and won't actually look very different from ordinary New Moon. Anyway, this New Moon is also a Supermoon. It means that this Black Moon occurs at the time of its closest approach to Earth, making it appear larger.

At this time, the Moon is almost directly between Earth and the Sun, and we see exactly the opposite side of the Moon to that which is illuminated by the Sun. So, this kind of “supermoon” is invisible from Earth because the half we see is unilluminated.

By the way, this Black Supermoon makes the skies ideal for checking out currently active meteor showers. Fortunately for us, the bright moonlight won’t interfere with celestial show and observers will be able to see more “summer shooting stars” this year.

Happy hunting!